Obituary: Murray Watkinson

By PHOEBE FALCONER

Rower. Died aged 63.

Murray Watkinson very nearly didn't make it to the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. Omitted from the first team selected for the games, he was included only after submissions from the New Zealand Rowing Association.

When he unpacked his rowing shell in Tokyo, he found it so badly damaged that it was considered a writeoff, but Japanese craftsmen stepped in and seven days later he described it as "100 per cent in every way". It was good enough to get him to fifth place in the single sculls final.

He began his rowing career at the West End Rowing Club in 1953, aged 13, and was in the Seddon Memorial Technical College crew that finished second to Mt Albert Grammar in the 1954 Maadi Cup eights, the blue ribbon event in secondary school rowing. Also in that crew was Bruce McLaren, the racing driver.

Watkinson won his first double sculling title with his brother Peter in the 1961-62 season, and the pair were selected for the Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth in 1962.

Training was difficult, as Peter was a commercial traveller and Murray worked as a bookbinder in Auckland. The problem was solved when they both moved to Rotorua, travelling to Mercer on the Waikato River every weekend for training. The hard work was rewarded with a silver medal in the double sculls at Perth.

But his success in the double sculls was more than matched in the single scull. He annexed the national singles championship in 1964, following on with that title in 1965, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72 and 74. He won medals at the Royal Henley Regatta in 1966 and the European championships in 1967, and won the senior sculls at Marlow the same year.

By 1971 New Zealand was becoming a recognised, even feared, name in world rowing.

With Rusty Robertson as coach, the team won two gold medals and one silver at the West German open champs. The standout performance of the regatta was Murray Watkinson's, who came from well behind with 300m to go to take gold. That year Watkinson was ranked second in the world, behind Alberto Demiddi of Argentina.

Robertson was still coach in 1972 when the sporting world converged on Munich for the Olympic games.

Although the eight made an unforgettable impact, the games were not kind to Watkinson. A strong changing wind and rough water made conditions difficult, and he did not progress past the first day.

Undeterred, he continued to row at home, winning the national champs in quadruple sculls in 1976, 1977 and 1978.

His health deteriorated in later years, culminating in one of the country's few heart-liver transplants.

He is survived by his wife Joy, sons Paul and Michael, and three grandchildren.